The last year has been hard on many people and Mineral County, along with the rest of the country, has seen an uptick in mental health and substance use concerns. 

With that in mind, on July 20, multiple Mineral County agencies participated in a Crisis Mapping Workshop put on by the Healthy Communities Coalition. 

The goal of the workshop was to map out the resources currently available to people in Mineral County experiencing suicidal thoughts and to prioritize areas for action to create better systems of support for these people.

April Quinlan and Jessica Schaak with the Mineral County Health Department and Alex Hawcroft from Western Montana Mental Health Center put together the workshop with the support of a grant from the Montana Coalition of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies. 

Quinlan facilitated the Crisis Mapping Workshop and attendees included personnel from the Mineral County Health Department, Sheriff’s Office, County Attorney’s Office, Crime Victim Advocates’

Office, Alberton and Superior School Districts, Mineral Community Hospital, MASC LLC, Partnership Health Center, Kuhl Dymanics, La Paloma Agency and the Sanders County Coalition for Families.

During the workshop, participants in person and via Zoom worked together in small groups to discuss various scenarios of people in crisis, including an example of a postpartum mother, a teenager in school, a woman experiencing domestic violence and a man with substance abuse issues. 

The groups “mapped” out the pathways their sample person might take through the system as well as potential outcomes by thinking about who they might call, where they might go, how they could be transported, who could de-escalate the crisis, and where they might be referred to after the acute crisis passes. 

After determining the most-likely paths and identifying the current system of response to people and families in crisis, the group assessed what is working well and what could use improvement.

Following the two-hour workshop, attendees exchanged business cards and agreed that the meeting was useful and should be repeated.

“Anytime you can bring these various agencies together, you’re going to gather good information,” commented Quinlan following the workshop. “Feedback from our attendees let us know that they left with more information about crisis response and ideas for how to further this work in our community, and that is a great first step.”

Next, conclusions will be written and shared with the group of attendees and a follow-up meeting will be organized.

In addition, the HCC will continue to meet bi-monthly to discuss and advocate for the health and wellbeing of Mineral County.  If you are interested in joining the HCC or learning more about crisis response in Mineral County, you can reach the Mineral County Health Department at 406-822-3564.